Saturday, 17 January 2009

Motivation

I sit here at 7.30am on a Saturday morning, casting the occasional anxious glance out the back door. I have been waiting all week to go for a longish ride - 3 hours or so, with some hills - and I have been hoping for cool weather in which to do it.

Well, be careful what you wish for. It's cool alright - perhaps too cool. It looks ominously like rain, and there is more wind than I would like.

After a week when the mercury was getting into the mid 30's on a regular basis, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

So why am I still sitting here?

I'm getting soft, that's why.

It's time to harden up. Just typing those words helps. They've kicked off my mental preparation. Now I want to go.

One last thing before I don my gear - check the weather radar.

There is a bit of rain about, but it is miles to the south of here. I should be safe (knocking my knuckles on my wooden desktop).

4 comments:

I'm an ol' fart and ride a motorcycle these days, but a little rain never used to worry me back in the day of the treadly. Then again, the old Malvern Star weighed about 20kg and had tyres like a John Deere tractor, and the only "critical mass" was owned by the dirty stinking Soviets in their atom bombs they had aimed squarely at North Ryde.

Rain doesn't bother me if I have somewhere to go, like work (or if I am at work and need to get home). I've ridden in rain so heavy, motorists have pulled over and waited for it to pass. I've had water up to my ankles from flooded streets.

But when I ride for "pleasure" (a very dubious sounding concept on a bike), I like the heavens to stay where they are. Up there.

Enjoyed a great ride this morning - Perth has some excellent bike paths. Headed north with 3 mates alongside the Canning and then Swan rivers, over the Narrows and followed the railway line through Subiaco and thence to Cottesloe for a swim and breaky at the Cottesloe Hotel. Then south to Fremantle and again along the river past the Left Bank, through Bicton, Attadale and Applecross to the Canning Bridge and then home. 60km round trip. I'll sleep well tonight.